I just finished up my 1L year and looking for a little advice. Finished ranked 26% in my class. It was enough to get me a job at a local firm for this summer. Not one of the big-time jobs, but enough to get paid. I really like the firm! My issue is this: they've asked me to keep working 20 hrs a week throughout my 2L year. Sounds really good, but I don't know if I want to stay at the firm. They ahve a great history of hiring clerks so I should stay, but I don't think this is the area I want to stay in after school. I think I wanna go back home which is a few hours away.

Anyways, just looking for peoples opinion on whether or not I should just be happy to have a job and keep my mouth shut since the job market is the way it is, or if I should not work this 2L year in hopes of moving my rank up 5-10% so I can have a chance at getting something closer to home.

cowboylawyer wrote:I just finished up my 1L year and looking for a little advice. Finished ranked 26% in my class. It was enough to get me a job at a local firm for this summer. Not one of the big-time jobs, but enough to get paid. I really like the firm! My issue is this: they've asked me to keep working 20 hrs a week throughout my 2L year. Sounds really good, but I don't know if I want to stay at the firm. They ahve a great history of hiring clerks so I should stay, but I don't think this is the area I want to stay in after school. I think I wanna go back home which is a few hours away.

Anyways, just looking for peoples opinion on whether or not I should just be happy to have a job and keep my mouth shut since the job market is the way it is, or if I should not work this 2L year in hopes of moving my rank up 5-10% so I can have a chance at getting something closer to home.

Why can't you work there this year while also trying to improve your ranking in hopes of finding a job you like better. Then if you cannot find said job, just stay with this place.

Tell them you'll work 15. 15 isn't too bad, and it'll allow you to keep work experience under your belt that you can use to your advantage should you change your mind about career paths in the spring. I know a few people who worked their tails off working 20+ hours a semester at various local, state, and federal agencies, and it paid off in the summer and post graduation. You need to hustle.

Thanks for the replies. The thought with not working the school year is to focus on bringing up my class rank. I was fortunate enough to write onto law journal, but I feel like my class rank can improve some and possibly get me into top 20%. I am doing OCI's, but the firms that came from the city I'm from seemed to really gear their picks towards top 20% mark and above. It has been great working experience... the thought in my mind is do I take the work experience, be at a firm that is ok but not my ultimate goal, and risk a lower grade, or not work during the school year and focus on grades, law journal, and other academic stuff.

Just looking for some feedback from those who have made that kind of decision before and whether it worked for them or not. Thank you very much for the feedback so far!

cowboylawyer wrote:Thanks for the replies. The thought with not working the school year is to focus on bringing up my class rank. I was fortunate enough to write onto law journal, but I feel like my class rank can improve some and possibly get me into top 20%. I am doing OCI's, but the firms that came from the city I'm from seemed to really gear their picks towards top 20% mark and above. It has been great working experience... the thought in my mind is do I take the work experience, be at a firm that is ok but not my ultimate goal, and risk a lower grade, or not work during the school year and focus on grades, law journal, and other academic stuff.

Just looking for some feedback from those who have made that kind of decision before and whether it worked for them or not. Thank you very much for the feedback so far!

Depends on your school but at a lot of places if you don't get a job through OCI bringing up your grades won't matter much